What a trumpet fish looks like and where it lives

Cricket

What does a trumpet fish look like?

Let's start with the fact that this fish is known by several names, including flute and whistle. And all thanks to its unusual shape. The body is elongated and rounded, the disproportionately long head and jaws (making up almost 1/3 of the entire length) end in a trumpet-shaped mouth, slightly flattened, which really looks like a flute. The length averages 50-70 cm, and individuals reach one and a half meters. The body is covered with fine ctenoid scales (thin, translucent and rounded with serrations on the outer edge). Coloration is most often bright, typical for inhabitants of warm waters - green or yellow, less often brown or red tint. Along the body may be stripes or spots. In addition, trumpet fish has the ability to change coloration under the influence of external stimuli.

Familiarity with this fish is often associated with recreation at resorts, when inspired by the unprecedented variety of sea creatures tourists dare to dive with scuba diving. And their attention is attracted by this slightly strange, but very beautiful fish. 

What does it eat?

Specific appearance and body structure determine the ways of feeding. Pipefish lives in the coastal zone and hunts near coral reefs alone or in small flocks. The main diet is small crustaceans and fish, cephalopod mollusks and arthropods. It captures them with ease among the reefs. It is believed that it uses two tactics to hunt. The first method: hides behind a larger fish, and at the right moment rushes to the victim, often clinging to it with the help of fins, which, incidentally, are quite poorly developed. Therefore, to gain high speed to chase the victim fish-tube can not. The second method is that it simply freezes in a vertical position, merging with the surrounding environment. When the prey appears in range, she immediately pounces on it. Her mouth is shaped like a normal pipe. The fish also uses it in a peculiar way, in a vertical position upside down, she, like a piglet, digs in the mud in search of food. Leads a low-active lifestyle, which is primarily due to the structure of the body, but perfectly camouflaged in coral and seaweed.

Cricket

Where does it live?

The habitat is quite wide - it is the Pacific and Indian oceans, including the Red Sea. Trumpet fish is an inhabitant of coastal waters around 150 meters and at a depth of about one hundred meters. Most often it peacefully waits for its prey among reefs or rocks. It is edible and has good taste, in connection with which, for example, is used in Japanese national cuisine.

Chinese flute fish

It is one of three species of the flutefish family. Its habitat is the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Maldives and Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. The body length is about 60 cm. The maximum length of individuals is 70-80 cm. The color varies from pure yellow to green or brown with various spots. Its muzzle is like a trumpet. The fish can open its mouth to a size comparable to the diameter of its body. Dorsal and anal fins are transparent, marked at the root with a black stripe. This solitary inhabitant of warm waters feeds on either fish or shrimp, usually choosing one type of food. Prefers to hide and camouflage in natural hiding places, closer to the bottom.

Cricket
Cricket

Aquarium keeping

Trumpet fish is suitable for aquarium keeping quite well. But it is important to remember that due to the size of its body (70-80 centimeters) requires a large volume of water, from 300 liters. Aquarium is best to choose an elongated aquarium, with a length of at least two meters. Since it is an inhabitant of warm seas and oceans, then the water temperature should be maintained within 25-26 ° C. In addition, the fish is demanding cleanliness and high oxygen content. In captivity, life expectancy on average will be about 5 years with proper and careful care. In the daily diet should include small fish, shrimp, crustaceans, preferably fresh, but gradually can be accustomed to frozen food. 

It is a typical representative of the family Flutoridae of the puffer family. The fish reaches an average size of about 70 centimeters. It lives along the coast of Florida and Bermuda to the north of South America. The common trumpet fish has a characteristic for the whole family structure of the body and mouth, which is able to stretch wide enough to capture medium-sized fish. Very often they are found in aquariums.

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